March 20, 2022

On the 11th anniversary of the Syrian revolution…
Revolutionary day of action about the Ukrainian question

From the Syrian resistance in northern Idlib,
speech by Steif Abu Izen

“After 11 years, we believe that people are only now understanding what happened in Syria, when looking at Ukraine. For fighting against Putin they told us we were terrorists. But it has to be made clear that in Syria we are fighting the same enemy that is invading Ukraine today.”

We are going to receive Comrade Steif Abu Izen, from the revolutionary youth who fought in Homs, one of the strongholds of the revolution, one of the cities that suffered the most from the siege by Bashar and the surrender by the FSA. Comrade Steif Abu Izen fought alongside one of the icons of the Syrian revolution, Abd el Basset Sarout, the world-renowned goalkeeper of the Syrian revolution. This comrade, Steif Abu Izen, a member of the resistance of the Syrian revolution today, is going to share his vision from within Syria

Steif: A huge hello to everyone here. Honor and glory to all the martyrs! Long live the Syrian revolution and the revolutions that take place throughout the planet! It is impossible to start this meeting without asking for mercy for all the souls of the fallen. We must always remember them and carry them forward as a flag. We ask for the freedom of all political prisoners and the reappearance alive of all the disappeared. That is the flag that we carry and we will always put forward when participating in this talk.

We have to give an account of what Putin did inside Syria to understand what is happening in Ukraine today. More than a million martyrs, 500 thousand prisoners, 7 million IDP and 7 million displaced persons outside Syria are the result of Putin's intervention.
Today we understand that we are two peoples fighting the same enemy. We are two twin peoples. It hurts and saddens us to see the Ukrainian refugees received with open arms, however the refugees who arrived from the Arab countries were rejected. We do not understand why this is so, since we are two twin peoples fighting against the same enemy.

It should be noted that everything that happened in Syria was on behalf of US imperialism, who divided and split Syria. Currently Syria has been divided into 3 portions. One is controlled by Turkey through what I call their militias. Another portion is controlled by the US by means of its militias and the other is controlled by Bashar with Putin and his militias. Why do I say their militias? Because it should be noted that the US keeps the part of Raqqa and Deir ez Zor, both very oil-rich and gas-rich cities and provinces. While in the other regions there are only tyrants distributing and administering misery.¹

The militias that control northern Syria today are the militias of Turkey. Because Turkey controls the FSA, which subjugates the workers and the masses in Idlib and in northern Syria. Turkey, together with the FSA, are in charge of recruiting many of my compatriots, with the illusion of a salary, and they have taken them as mercenaries to fight in Libya. Turkey, with its militias and HTS, in the liberated territories are the ones that oppress the Syrian people today. On the other hand, the US in the oil and gas rich regions has the PKK and PYD militias. They are the ones it uses today to guarantee its looting of oil. Bashar's militias keep southern Syria, with the Hezbollah militias, the Iranians and the Russian troops.

We are an occupied nation. We, the revolutionaries, are ready to kick out each and every one of the invaders, both Turkey that claims to be an ally of the revolution, as well as the mercenary troops of Iran, Hezbollah and Russia.

Many of those who are here today have been following the Syrian revolution for 11 years. Everyone knows that Bashar has been defeated for quite some time. The US, at the Geneva convention, coordinated all its agents. He invented ISIS to say that there were terrorists because all they wanted was the riches of our territory. Between the US and Russia they destroyed the revolution. But even so, in many towns, the troops of the Russian army supported by Hezbollah and Iran were defeated. We survived the US bombings. That's why they started using the Scorched Earth maneuver. They took the cities, but only in ruins. There was no way for us to get out of there.

Today the Syrian revolution continues to resist after 11 years. Millions of people took to the streets a few days ago on the anniversary of the revolution, still asking for the fall of Bashar, the freedom of the prisoners and raising high the flags of the martyrs, paying them honor.

After 11 years, we believe that people are only now understanding what happened (in Syria), when looking at Ukraine. For fighting against Putin they told us we were terrorists, they accused us of being Islamists. But it has to be made clear that in Syria we are fighting the same enemy that is invading Ukraine today. What happened to us in Syria is what awaits Ukraine. We are ready to help you. Although in Europe they receive the Ukrainian people as refugees and did not the same for us, we understand that this is not the fault of the Ukrainian people. Today we must be a single fist. Many of us have combat experience against the Russian invader and could provide military assistance if needed.